Growing Pains
by blottyparchment
Summary: Chisaki found the sea hidden in one of the trunks: a turquoise sea to compliment her eyes, with creases like ripples in the water, netted with a quarry of corals and a banner of fishes. Coming of Age Part 1.
1. Rainbow Dreams

Growing Pains

_A girl and a boy unrelated and of the same age couldn't possibly live together, could they? Of Tsumugu, Chisaki, and awkwardness...and of rice krispies, sick girls, forbidden love, and rainbow dreams. _

* * *

Grudgingly, Chisaki admitted that she had neglected watching her diet in recent days. She would usually cook for the three of them, but there were occasions when Grandpa Kihara showed his hand. He made a big haul early one day and the prize he fetched home was a few pounds of fresh marlin. He asked Tsumugu and Chisaki to run an errand to Saya Mart for some vegetables and shellfish and when they stepped back inside the house, a wonderful aroma of grilled fish welcomed their return. That evening, Chisaki sat down to a scrumptious dinner and ate to her heart's content.

Later, as Chisaki was entering the bath, shedding off her long-sleeved top, denim shorts, and thigh highs, she felt a slight straining around her chest when she unclasped her bra. She ignored it, though, only to find the following morning that she had to suck in her breath a tiny bit in order to hitch the hook to the nearest eye. And yet, she persisted on ignoring that nagging feeling.

"Chisaki! We're running late!" Tsumugu yelled from downstairs.

"Coming!" Chisaki snatched up her school bag, pummeling out of her room, pounding down the stairs, and pushing through the front door where Tsumugu was expecting her with his bag slung over his shoulder.

That day, they had Home Economics and the recipe was chocolate rice krispies, which was met by the girls with keen interest, but earned a dreaded groan from the boys, because they would rather skip out on the baking and preferred jumping to the taste-testing instead. By coincidence, Chisaki and Tsumugu were in the same group when they were divided equally and the two of them worked astonishingly well as a team. The chocolate rice krispies turned out perfect and Chisaki was fairly proud of their finished product, which proved true as she sampled, in her opinion, a _modest_ few.

However, after that episode, Chisaki often felt short of breath, like a weight was crushing her lungs. It was not mere chance was it, that she could only find relief when she had finally unfastened the clasps of her bra? Chisaki studied the girl in the reflection. She was tall and big-boned, not willowy, and...Chisaki winced at the flab or _blob_, she would describe more, of skin she had clamped in between her thumb and forefinger.

"No, it _must be _baby fat," Chisaki might have convinced herself, the operative word being _might_. She _was _eating rather healthily. Somewhere, in the eddies of her mind, she tried to make an inventory of _exactly_ how many pieces of rice krispies she consumed in Home Economics, the strawberry parfait and chocolate fudge sundae she enjoyed with her girl friends during a sweets binge not too long ago, the bag of assorted candies and potato crunch she alternatively popped into her mouth one after another during cram nights, and, not to mention, there were also the full meals she had been eating when Grandpa Kihara was in the mood to prepare dinner, which, as of late, was becoming more often. She could no longer ignore that nagging feeling anymore. Her biggest dilemma, of course, was regarding the changes in her upper region.

During dinner, Tsumugu noticed that she only seemed to be eating a much smaller portion than usual. Her reason was she did not have much of an appetite. Then, at school, she approached her two closest female classmates – Kaori Akiyoshi and Yuu Seiki.

"Can you help me do some shopping?" Chisaki opened up.

They both perked up their eyebrows in surprise. Yuu asked, "In the city?" To which, Chisaki nodded.

Kaori said, dubious, "Why not ask Tsumugu to accompany you? Not that we're not okay with the invitation, but you guys are already living under the same roof. You do stuff _together_."

_Something_ about the way Kaori worded it induced Chisaki to blush. She blushed even harder for what she was about to whisper to Kaori and Yuu, beckoning them to come hither, "They're too snug now."

At first, Kaori and Yuu stared uncomprehendingly at her. Chisaki's next move was to lower her gaze to her chest and look back up at her classmates' unblinking faces.

"Eeh! Oh, _that_!" squealed Yuu in an excited whisper, but Kaori could not help bursting out, volume a tad overloud, "Oh, oh! What's your cup si–"

"_Ssshh_!" hissed Chisaki, signing the 'quiet' gesture and flailing her hands desperately. At this point, the whole class must have overheard them as she could feel their eyes pricking her back, Tsumugu's included, and she was so ashamed she buried her tomato-red face in her hands.

* * *

"I don't think you should force it," Tsumugu spoke, worried lines etching his otherwise stoic face. Chisaki was already dressed in her school uniform, but she was hunched over, her brows twitching in pain as her hand curled like a gnarled claw clutching at her stomach. Tsumugu was careful to give her some space, but he was ready to trespass it anytime Chisaki showed the slightest inclination of collapsing right then and there.

"I'm part of the committee." The words came out strangled, like she having difficulties, but it came out like it was supposed to explain enough.

Chisaki meant to pass through Tsumugu and the door, but she fumbled in her steps and was on the verge of tipping forward only to be held back by a firm pair of hands.

Tsumugu's eyes bulged, for Chisaki's skin was abnormally hot. He immediately spun her around to face him and splayed his palm on her forehead. "You're running a fever." Despite her adamance, Tsumugu marched the sick Chisaki back to her room and stood guard at her door until he was certain she had changed into her pajamas and was tucked into her futon comfortably.

When Tsumugu was not budging at all from his spot at the mouth of her room, Chisaki pleaded, "Tsumugu, please! Go to school. I'll be a good girl and rest."

Resigned, Tsumugu uncrossed his arms, plucked his bag off the floor and left for school. Yet, although his body was going through the motions of school, for the rest of the day, his mind was distracted with Chisaki lying sick in bed.

After informing their homeroom teacher and Shun Sayama, who was also in the school festival committee, about Chisaki, Tsumugu decided to seek Akari's advise. He told Akari how, right after exams season, Chisaki was very busy with committee duties and had been going home later than usual, how she recently went through a phase of skipping meals but was now eating regularly again, and these things aside, he did not find anything unusual with her yesterday. When he described her symptoms - nausea, fever, stomache pains - Akari looked enlightened at the last bit and moved to stand in front of the calendar pinned to the wall, nodding to herself. "It all makes sense now."

Akari smiled knowingly. "Well, you see. Tsumugu, she's going through her..." She lowered her voice to a whisper.

Tsumugu's features did not betray any reaction but he seemed to take a while to digest the information. Finally, he turned to Akari. "What can I do to help her?"

Akari scribbled words on a notepad and then peeled off the top sheet. "Here. You can buy it over the counter at a drug store. You'll also want to prepare a warm compress for her. Chamomile tea is good too, if you have some. You don't have to worry so much about the fever. It'll just go away, but if her temperature becomes too high, please let me know. Hmm, what else? Oh, you might also need to buy _those_ in the 'Feminine Care' section at the drug store."

Tsumugu made all his mental notes and thanked Akari.

"On second thought, you might feel embarrassed buying such things. Do you want me to buy them for you?"

It was like the world was on mute as Akari anticipated his answer.

"I can do it," replied Tsumugu and very nonchalantly, that he could win an award for it. Akari was amused and said something about 'brave' and 'mature'. Tsumugu exited Saya Mart while Akari shouted after him, "And tell Chisaki not to stress herself out too much!"

A trip to the drug store later, Tsumugu knocked perfunctorily on the wooden sliding door of Chisaki's room. "Chisaki? I'm coming in!"

"Mmm." He heard her weak response from the other side of the door.

Tsumugu put down the tray of gruel, tea, and warm compress close to Chisaki's head. He knelt over her futon, his hand feather-light on her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

Chisaki was swathed in layers of blankets with only her arms and head sticking out. She cracked an eye open and mumbled out, "A little better."

"Your fever's gone down, it seems. That's good."

Tsumugu helped her sit up and positioned the short-legged tray in front of her. He waited until she had scraped the bottom of the bowl. "This," he said, pointing at the warm compress, "is for your stomach." And then, he foraged through the plastic bag he brought with him. "And also, this. Akari said it's effective against cramps." He deposed a medicine tablet on the tray. The plastic bag rustled and its contents tumbled out to the side - painkiller and two packs of...Chisaki raised her eyebrows.

"I thought you might need those. But I wasn't sure which brand, so I bought two kinds," Tsumugu explained, keeping a straight face.

Chisaki stared bug-eyed and with mouth agape, then her cheeks grew flushed from the sickness or was it from another cause? Was she envisioning him being at a loss on which one to buy and having to ask assistance from the clerk, who tried her best to be non-descriptive and descriptive at the same time, yet in the end, he paid for the medicine and two different brands? She could not have possibly guessed but she was probably close. In a burst of motion, she gulped down the medicine and tugged her blanket, but not without tremendous effort, all the way up to her mouth. Tsumugu met her lambent eyes and heard her muffled voice. "Thank you, Tsumugu."

* * *

The school bell _king kong-_ed to announce lunch hour. Tsumugu opened his bag to put away his Math book and take out lunch. His hand touched a solid, blocky shape that he presumed was his lunch pack, but his hand pulled up, against his expectations, a lunch pack wrapped in a cloth of floral design, which was obviously not his. He made to get up in order to deliver the lunch pack into the hands of its rightful owner, when he heard his name. "Kihara-kun? He's here. Hey, Kihara-kun! Somebody's looking for you!"

A shade of cobalt hair materialized at the classroom's front door. It belonged to a tall (for her age), robust (not so petite) girl, of aquamarine eyes and with almost waist-length hair gathered in a high, side ponytail. Class 1-A was wholly intrigued about this visitor. Their loud whispers echoed, "It's Hiradaira Chisaki from Class 1-B!"

Lunch pack in hand, Tsumugu calmly crossed the floor, circling around the maze of desks. As soon as he was face to face with Chisaki, they both said, without missing a beat, "_Bentou_."

One, two, three seconds passed before Chisaki expelled a blithe laugh. "I guess, since our bags are identical, I was bound to mix up our bentous again."

This was not the first time it happened. Schools provided standard-issue bags, so there were times when Chisaki accidentally put her packed lunch (she portioned their lunches differently) in Tsumugu's bag and vice versa. And being in one class, it was easier to exchange their lunches in middle school. However, since they stepped into high school, they had been in separate classes during their first year. Chisaki was together with their middle school friends, while Tsumugu was alone in his class. Truthfully, Tsumugu would have wanted to be in the same class as Chisaki, but she had Kaori and Yuu, even Sayama and Egawa, at least, to keep Chisaki company.

"It's as much my fault. I didn't check before we left."

Chisaki smiled while she accepted her lunch pack from Tsumugu and he did the same. "This feels strange. We always see each other after school and at home, yet I don't think we have interacted much in school since the start of the year."

Tsumugu's face, normally unrevealing, mellowed. "You're right."

"Well, I better go back to my classroom now. Kaori and Yuu are waiting for me. Maybe, we can all take our lunch together at the cafeteria or on the rooftop some other time."

Tsumugu nodded quietly, waving his hand a fracture. He leaned beyond the door to watch her figure disappear into the room next door. He turned to go back to his seat, only to find the entire class staring back, the atmosphere hushed. Then, on cue, normal chatter resumed, punctuated by boisterous laughter from the boys and bubbly giggles on the girls' part.

The next day, oblivious to Tsumugu, rumors started spreading throughout the school, from the freshmen to the seniors. The accounts varied, but the chief topic was of one Tsumugu Kihara and one Chisaki Hiradaira. According to the witnesses, yesterday, they saw the couple exchanging boxed lunches and sweet smiles at the door and later on, said couple was purported to be going home together while the girl clung tightly to the boy's arm. The following day, reports said that the two of them arrived together and before they parted at the shoe lockers, they leaned towards each other to share a brief peck on the lips.

The supporting people – people who were known to be linked to the two – like Kaori Akiyoshi, Yuu Seiki, Shun Sayama, and Takeshi Egawa, were further interrogated about the two's relationship. The facts were fragmented, coagulated with fiction. Chisaki was an orphaned sea girl adopted by Tsumugu's grandfather. Tsumugu was living away from his family in the city and when he met the beautiful sea girl, fell in love and vowed to stay with her in Oshiooshi. From this, another strand was weaved, that Chisaki Hiradaira was really in an arranged marriage with Tsumugu Kihara and was living with the Kiharas for training to be a wife. And yet another tale was borne of this, that Chisaki and Tsumugu were already married, but being underaged, were living together under the supervision of the grandfather and forced to hide their relationship status until they graduate from high school.

"Wait! Stop right there! That's getting out of hand! I only said Chisaki-chan was under the care of Tsumugu-kun and his grandpa because she doesn't have any other family on land!" exclaimed Kaori. Tsumugu, Chisaki, and their middle school classmates were eating their lunch at the rooftop, which was presently empty except for their group.

"And I said the same thing, I swear!" Shun spoke through a mouthful of rice.

Takeshi snickered. "But both of you must have phrased it in a lewd way."

"So how the heck did it turn into a romance novel!?"

"So how the heck did it turn into a visual novel game!?"

The two, Kaori and Shun, bursted out in tune, with coordinated drastic hand movements. At the same time too, both of them slumped back like the energy had been sapped from their bodies. And then, as one, the group shifted their attention to the actual subject matter or _matters_, to be more precise.

Chisaki was blushing furiously, like all the blood had circulated to her face. She opened and closed her mouth, then opened it again, like a fish trying to breathe on land, but no speech was coming out. In contrast, Tsumugu was almost his usual self, if not, on closer look, for his dipped brows and far-off gaze.

"R-romance novel!?" Chisaki, getting a hold of her voice, managed to stutter out.

It was true that she and Tsumugu exchanged lunches and they went home together, like they often did when there were no club activities, but Chisaki only happened to cling to his arm because she lost her footing on the road. That moment at the shoe lockers was Chisaki fixing Tsumugu's askewed tie. Their heights were different enough that Chisaki had to tilt up her head and feet and Tsumugu had to bow a little for them to meet halfway.

The wild speculations went unrestrained until _somebody _finally dared to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. It was one of the girls in Tsumugu's class, a girl with doe eyes and a fringe of hair just right above her eye line, shy but bold enough to approach him. "Kihara-kun, is it true? A-are you and Hiradaira-san...?"

"Do you know about the hibernation of the sea villages?"

The wide-eyed girl bobbed her head, her bangs bobbing in agreement.

"She wasn't able to join her family and friends in time for the hibernation. She's the only sea person left of her age. My grandfather took her in because she was like him."

The girl sniffled a bit, moved. "Oh, poor Hiradaira-san. She must miss her family and friends from underwater."

"She must get homesick a lot." Another female classmate joined in. "And the hibernation happened during the Ofunehiki too, right? I saw waves so big they could topple the boats!"

Soon, the whole class was drawn into the discussion of the events during and after the Ofunehiki. The townspeople were largely aware about the gist of the story and were likely to be present during the event, but most of them, if not all, lacked that feeling of connection as personal as Tsumugu.

"Wow, Kihara-kun. You're surprisingly honest. At first, we thought it was hard to talk to you."

The misconceptions surrounding Tsumugu and Chisaki were now cleared up, yet Chisaki Hiradaira's name became infamous for other reasons. Tsumugu was on cleaning duty and volunteered to carry the trashbin to the furnace. As he walked towards the back of the school building, snatches of conversation drifted within his range of hearing.

"Man, did you see her? I was walking towards the annex when we crossed paths. She smiled at me! Smiled! At me!" detailed an enthusiastic, spiky, auburn-haired boy, who slightly resembled Egawa. One of the sophomores, if Tsumugu remembered correctly. He was hanging out with his circle of friends at the fence.

Tsumugu would have left them to their own devices, but, "Do you think I should court Hiradaira-san?"

Now, _that_ gave Tsumugu pause.

His friend said, "But isn't she close to that first year, Kihara Tsumugu? I heard they're living together due to some circumstances."

"So, he's sort of her brother?"

The friend was silent and only shrugged.

"Oh, come on! You think there's something more?"

The same friend released a sigh and walked away. Another one gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Good luck, buddy," he told the spiky-haired sophomore and followed suit.

Indignant at his friends walking out on him, he yelled, "You guys watch me! I'll confess to her tomorrow after school!"

The morning after seemed like any other ordinary day, except Tsumugu's eye caught the slip of white that was tucked into the narrow gap of Chisaki's shoe locker. It could be none other than Chisaki's would-be suitor's doing. If Tsumugu was the jealous type, he would have swiped away that love letter the moment Chisaki opened her locker, never ever to be seen again. But he was not the petty kind to resort to such tactics. Was it luck, though, that Chisaki overlooked the letter, was instead looking at him – cheerfully recounting a funny incident that happened yesterday – while she was taking out her indoor shoes, and it fluttered unnoticed to the ground? Indeed, Tsumugu was not petty, but he never breathed a word about the slip of paper.

* * *

As soon as Chisaki alighted, the door _hissed_ close and the bus rumbled down the road, leaving her to stand alone at the bus stop. She unleashed a small sigh of relief. Grandpa Isamu was recovering well, the doctor said. She could not wait to tell Tsumugu, who could not come with her because he had cram school today.

Chisaki trudged downhill, thinking that she ought to cook a little something special to celebrate the good news and they would have another one with Grandpa Isamu, once he was allowed to eat regular food again. So, on the way home, she made up her mind to take a detour at Saya Mart to buy ingredients.

When Chisaki came into Saya Mart, Akari caught on her jovial mood and could not help but remark on it. "Did something good happen, Chisaki?"

"Yes! I just came back from the hospital. The doctor said that grandpa's condition is improving a lot. He can't be discharged from the hospital yet, but he should be able to eat regularly again."

"Oh, that's good news indeed!"

"So, I want to buy some meat and cook up something extra delicious."

Akari chatted with her more as Chisaki paid for the beef and dried mushrooms at the cash register. "How's Tsumugu doing? Haven't seen him in a while."

"He's busy with cram school. We may have the same classes at school, but there isn't much opportunity to talk and I hardly see him at home too."

"Senior year, ugh." Akari made a grimace while the barcode scanner made a _beep _sound. "I remember how it was for me too. Didn't have much time for fun. I wanted to be a comic book artist back then and was so determined to make it work out that I was spending a huge amount of time in the library studying drawing techniques and then I was also practicing my drawing on this big sketchpad. I actually brought it with me to Oshiooshi!"

"Haha. I'd love to see your drawings some time. Thank you." Chisaki's fingers went through the plastic bag's holes and she hefted her purchase off the counter.

Akari heaved a sigh, her eyes going misty. "Those were the days. And maybe it's because I didn't have much time for my best friend, Miori, that I didn't realize behind my back that she was already an adult. You and Tsumugu, too. You're both grown up now."

Chisaki shook her head, her tone and expression pensive. "He's the one who's grown up. I'm the one who still has to be guided by him all the time."

At that, Akari only smiled, which somehow, lent Chisaki reassurance. She was making her way out of Saya Mart when the daily congregation of neighborhood wives started arriving. A portly woman came over to Akari's place at the cash register, simpering. "Akari-san! The pickled plums your store sells are delightful! I was just telling my daughter, Akiko, here." Beside the portly woman was her exact replica, but in her twenties, was much thinner, and much more reserved.

"Thank you, Nakajima-san."

"By the way, I heard that Kihara Isamu got hospitalized two weeks ago. Have you heard anything about his current condition?"

"Oh, yes. Chisaki told me he's stabilized now, though he's not to leave the hospital yet."

Another voice chimed in, a voice whittled with age and belonging to an old lady with thin, graying hair. She had come hobbling from the back room of the store. "Chisaki? Do you mean the sea girl who was separated from her family in Shioshishio?"

"She's living with the Kiharas," added Akari helpfully.

"Ah, yes. I recall. I also recall Isamu's grandson. Such a well-mannered pair they were when I met them. I wish my grandson was half as respectful and caring."

"Oh, but I think your grandson is caring enough, Sayama-san."

The old lady wrinkled her nose and eyes. "Bah!"

"Oh, but does that mean that the sea girl and Isamu's grandson are living in the same house unchaperoned?" It was Mrs. Nakajima's turn again.

Akari was quick to jump in defense, placating the woman by raising her palms. "There's nothing to worry about, Nakajima-san! I know them. They can be trusted."

"Still, you never know what could happen between two high school teenagers left alone in the same house! That's why, I never let my daughter out of my sight."

The next few seconds were laden with thick silence as the women shed their sympathies for twenty-something Akiko Nakajima. They also prayed for her freedom. However, Granny Sayama broke the silent spell. "Bah! Natsuko, why are you such a prude? It shouldn't surprise you nowadays! Why, I got married when I was younger. My husband was seventeen and I was fifteen. Ah, we were so young and innocent then. But, by the time I was eighteen, I was already popping out my second child!" the old lady cackled at the end. Mrs. Nakajima's little 'hmph' went by unnoticed.

"Granny! What are you doing here!? You shouldn't be out of bed!" a new voice interrupted.

"Shun, you've stacked those boxes already?"

"Yep, Akari-san." Then, gentler, "Now granny, let's get you back to your room, okay?"

"Bah! It's not caring, I tell you, Akari. It's nagging! Nagging! And see how disrespectful he is!" Chisaki could hear the unrelenting, fretful Granny Sayama being prodded as gently as possible by his grandson, Shun, to go back into the residential area. The Sayama house was attached to the back of the store.

Chisaki, obscured from view behind one of the aisles, took that opportunity then to slip her way out of Saya Mart before she could be noticed. She stepped outside and out of the line of sight of Mrs. Nakajima and anybody else who might recognize her, casting her eyes heavenwards, towards the ominous, darkening clouds and frowning, for she did not have an umbrella with her. When she looked away from the sky, her sight latched onto a familiar figure, making its way across the road, heading closer and closer in her direction.

"Tsumugu?"

"Chisaki?"

They said to each other at the exact same moment.

"We just had mock exams today and finished early," explained Tsumugu, coming to halt a few feet in front of her. "You're back from visiting grandpa?"

Chisaki nodded, smiling as she delivered the good news about Grandpa Isamu to him. For Tsumugu, there was no eruption of words or gust of feelings, just a quiet, "I'm glad."

As for Chisaki, she only needed to gaze at his aureate eyes to grasp the real depth of those feelings. And then, she found him eyeing the goods in her hand and lifted his brows as if to say, "Is that what I think it is?"

"Hmm? Oh, this?" Chisaki raised the plastic bags up in the air with gusto. "Beef. To celebrate grandpa's recovery!"

_Plop plop. _All of a sudden, in a miraculous turn, thunder cried, followed by the sky's tears. Droplets of water pitter-pattered to the ground, drenching the whole town. The summer rain had arrived. Luckily, they were still sheltered under the awning of Saya Mart.

"Oh, dear. It's raining! We'll have to wait this out, won't we?" Mrs. Nakajima's voice filtered from inside the shop, reminding Chisaki that she was also unlucky.

She was debating whether to let the rain subside first or if she should drag Tsumugu along and blunder out in the rain right that instance, when Shun Sayama came dashing out of the store. "Uwa! I have to get these in before they get wet!"

It was good timing that Shun turned his head and saw them. "Chisaki-chan? Tsumugu-kun? You two were there? Can you help me move the dried fish under the shade?"

Chisaki and Tsumugu exchanged glances and then dropped beside Shun to help him move the canvas laid out with dried fish far away from the rain's reach.

"Phew! Thanks! I don't know what I would have done without you two!" Shun crouched down to rearrange the dried fish on the canvas. "So, what brings you two here? You sure picked a weird place to date," he commented thoughtlessly.

"No, no! It's nothing like that! We met here by coincidence." Chisaki denied vehemently, then, offhand, she said under her breath, "Jeez. You too?"

"What? Me too?" Shun arched a quizzical brow.

Chisaki trained her eyes elsewhere, hoping to hide her blush from Shun, as well as, Tsumugu. "It's nothing," she dismissed again.

"There, done." Shun sprung to his feet and dusted off his palms. "Why don't you come inside and wait until the rain passes?"

A loud shout spilled out. "Upon my word! They thought they could fool me. I saw their decors and they were all in bad taste that I immediately cancelled my order!" Chisaki eyes flickered towards the interior of Saya Mart.

Shun rolled his eyes. "Oh, that's Nakajima Natsuko-san. She's always like that. It's nothing new. For every positive word, she has five other negative things to say. She always gives me a stern look whenever she thinks I'm ogling at one of her daughters. It's no wonder that the lot of them are unmarried. Anyway, did she say something to you?"

"N-not really. Sayama-kun, can we borrow an umbrella? I do want to get this meat home as soon as possible." Chisaki turned to Tsumugu for his permission. "Is it okay, Tsumugu?"

Tsumugu acknowledged with a brief nod.

"Alright. I'll get an umbrella. You two wait here."

While waiting for Shun to fetch an umbrella, Tsumugu offered to carry the grocery, to which Chisaki complied. A moment later, Shun returned with a blue umbrella. "Sorry I couldn't find anything else. Will this do?"

"Mm-hmm," hummed Chisaki. "Thank you, Sayama-kun! See you on Monday!"

"See you!" Shun replied, going back inside.

Chisaki wrestled with the umbrella until she succeeded in spreading it wide open. The size was a bit small, but they could fit under. She noted the design. Blue polka dots. They were one of Miuna's favorite patterns.

Tsumugu stared at it and remarked, "It's a kid's umbrella."

"An old one of Miuna's, I think." Chisaki hoisted the umbrella above her head and gazing up, she was caught off guard by Tsumugu stretching out his hand and prying the umbrella away from her, then he extended his left elbow. It took a while for Chisaki to register that he was inviting her to take his arm. And instantaneously, _everything_ from earlier replayed in her consciousness. Normally, Chisaki did not mull too much about such things, but today made her too tense, too self-conscious in her actions towards Tsumugu. She barely touched his sleeve, only pinching the edge of it as they began the walk home.

Tsumugu said, not for the first time, "Come closer."

"I'm fine," Chisaki insisted, not for the first time as well, despite half of her body already sticking out from the canopy of the umbrella. They had quite some space in between them.

Tsumugu knew this too and pointed out drily, "You're getting soaked."

And in turn, Chisaki knew she was on the losing end of the argument and at last gave in. Gathering her courage, she inched closer to him, looped her hand through, and rested it lightly on the crook of his arm. Tsumugu was not the type who worked out, but he was neither muscled nor skinny and Chisaki could feel the firmness and strength in his arm through the fold of fabric. The rain persisted and so did silence all the way until they were halfway home.

"So, nursing," Tsumugu introduced out of nowhere.

Chisaki tensed up, throwing him a sideways glance. "Nursing?"

"I accidentally saw it, your career consultation form, when I borrowed your stapler from your room. It was hard to ignore, what with the stapler sitting right on top of it. Sorry."

"Oh."

"I'm not too sure about it yet."

"It's something I wrote on a whim."

Chisaki answered in pieces, her voice growing weaker and weaker until it faded out and her eyes faltered and plunged to the wet asphalt. "Maybe..."

"Is it because of what happened to grandpa?" Tsumugu asked.

Chisaki looked introspectively. When Grandpa Isamu went into E.R., she was so afraid that it would be the last time she would see him. That dreadful emotion gnawed at her raw insides and her chest felt like it was binded too tight. Not this _again. _It was so unbearable, the thought of never again seeing the people she cared for. After surgery, grandpa was relocated to a semi-private room. When the doctor said he would live, the binding around her chest had unwound but she still could not breathe easily.

The old man was still sleeping on their first visit. The attending nurse was replacing his IV drip and greeted them with a warm smile as they arrived. "Are you his grandchildren?" Chisaki perched on the stool while Tsumugu stood by the side of the bed. The nurse continued, "That's a mighty frown he's got, huh? Is he also like that when he's awake?"

Chisaki met Tsumugu's eye and a small chuckle escaped from her lips. "Yes."

"Then, he's not yet done worrying about life. People are stubborn like that, old people especially. So, you don't need to worry about him. He'll be fine. He's a strong man. He knows there are people still waiting for him."

And just like that, her mind and heart were at ease. Everyday, it made Chisaki feel better just talking to the nurse or merely seeing her hold the trembling hand of a senior, affectionately patting the head of a toddler, or having, in general, the compassion to care for another life.

"I wanted to be like that nurse," Chisaki breathed out wistfully.

They were almost there. Once they turned around the next corner, they would reach home. Chisaki did not know what thoughts were brewing in his mind, but she knew that he had listened to her story. He always did, sincerely.

"Go. Follow your dreams."

Those words. They were the same words she had given him when he first expressed his desire to study oceanography. At that time, they just finished with their meal and as he put down his chopsticks, he gazed levelly at her. Chisaki realized then that he was about to tell her something important. His uncomplicated words and his calm, even tone gave nothing away, so she peered closely at his face and tried to read the current of emotions in his deep, soulful, aureate eyes. And what his _soul_ conveyed was hope and ambition and then, reluctance and indecision.

Ah, she understood now.

He had discovered his dream, but he would only pursue it if he had her blessing. If Tsumugu passed his entrance exam, it would mean that he would be going away to live in the city, possibly for long periods that he would only be able to visit home once or twice a year during breaks. She would be left all alone in that already-too-quiet house.

"Go. Follow your dreams."

If he wanted to pursue his dreams, then she would support him, because that was what family did, right?

_Plop plop_. Rain pitter-pattered to the ground, drenching the whole town and drenching her.

"Chisaki! You're getting wet!"

_Splash splash splash. _Tsumugu all but sloshed through the puddles, desperate to reach Chisaki, who, along the way, had somehow detached herself from his arm and now stood sopping wet in the rain.

A shadow fell over Chisaki and she glanced up to see Tsumugu closing in to shield her from the cold and the rain. A question leaped out of her mouth, so unexpectedly even for her. "Tsumugu, do you think I'd make a good nurse?"

Yet before she could wait for an answer, she was distracted by the absence of something.

"Ah, it stopped raining."

Tsumugu extended his hand palm up and away from the cover of the umbrella. Indeed, the rain had stopped as abruptly as it came. Tsumugu was shimmying the umbrella close when Chisaki squeezed his arm and pointed at the horizon. "Look, a rainbow!"

Upon the hill they stood, they admired the streak of colors painted across the sky. For Chisaki, it was a fortuitous sign, that of good things yet to come.

Beside her, Tsumugu spoke. "I don't think you'd make a good nurse."

She flinched in discouragement, her head drooping.

But Tsumugu was not done at all. "I think, you'd make a great nurse. You already take care of us very well."

Chisaki's eyes grew wide. She was pleased at the compliment, blushing a pretty pink. "Thank you."

"No. _Thank you_."

* * *

I meant to finish the next half of Mermaid Tears but Kaname won't agree with me, haha. Then, this series of short stories cropped up. The first series is light-hearted and more of fluff, but I hope you enjoyed! I wasn't too sure if sea women would experience having those monthly things, but I couldn't get the idea out of my head, how Tsumugu would handle living with a girl. The school bits were inspired a bit by the fanart and fics I've seen/read on Pixiv. So, there. Haha.

I already have the next series planned out, which may be more mature and serious, and would like to get down to writing it if I have some time, so please do look forward to it! As always, please do leave me your thoughts. I love reading comments.


	2. Midnight Visitor

Growing Pains 2

_Cutting hair was not a simple business as Chisaki thought. On the other hand, Tsumugu listened to Chisaki's lament. One step forward, two steps backward. There was still a long way to go._

* * *

It had already started unraveling, she noticed one day, as Chisaki faced the mirror to fix her hair with her favorite scrunchie of white petals. That day, tucking away the hair tie into the recesses of her drawer, she let down her waist-length hair, unornamented. That day, she also wondered if maybe she should trade her long hair for a shorter one.

That day, too, on the way back from visiting Grandpa Isamu, she made a side trip to the hair salon.

"Oh, dearie. You have such beautiful, thick hair. Are you sure you want to cut it?" The hair stylist was looking _very _much distressed for her sake and to prove her point, she picked at Chisaki's dark blue locks.

For a split second, Chisaki faltered. But she raised her chin, sucked in her breath, and with a glint of determination, met the hair stylist's eyes in the mirror. "Yes, please," she managed without her voice breaking and braved the ministrations of the haircutter and her shears.

A few days later, two faces surveyed each other at the Kihara entrance - one tall, dark-haired man of tanned skin, the other a shorter woman with midnight-blue, shoulder-length tresses and a fair complexion.

The man said, "I'm home, Chisaki."

Chisaki's face lit up. "Welcome home, Tsumugu," she greeted from the interior.

Chisaki stepped aside to allow Tsumugu and his duffel bag through and as soon as he was safely inside, she tugged on the sliding screen door, effectively shutting out the cold. When she turned her head, she was afforded a view of the back of Tsumugu's head. "Oh."

Tsumugu heard and twisted around to look at her.

"Tsumugu, did you cut your hair?"

Last time they laid eyes on each other was before he left for university and his hair was still brushing the collar of his shirts. Now, his hair was a fringe above the nape of his neck.

"Yeah. Just a trim." He lingered at the corridor, as if waiting for her cue.

"I see..." Chisaki's words were succeeded by a humid lull, as she curbed the urge to say more, even though she wanted very much to know why he did not wait to come home before having his haircut. After all, she had been the one doing it for him for the past four years. Instead, she cushioned her disappointment by moving along the conversation. "Are you hungry? Or do you want to bathe first before you eat dinner?"

"It's just like you," Tsumugu answered cryptically in between her string of words.

"I already prepared the bath, so I think you should clean up first. I'll reheat the food while- Huh?" Chisaki faded out all of a sudden.

"I'll take a bath first." Tsumugu hitched the strap of his bag higher on his shoulder and mounted the stairs to the second floor, leaving a nonplussed Chisaki at the bottom of the steps.

Chisaki sighed her defeat and rather than dwell on Tsumugu's enigmas, busied herself in the kitchen instead, taking out the food stored in the refrigerator to warm it up by fire. She was reaching out for the lacquerware stowed in the upper shelves when a maroon sleeve darted in front of her view and a brown hand seized the plates she was about to take.

Chisaki backed up, only to bump into a solid wall behind her. The solid wall was breathing. "Tsumugu!" Chisaki yelped when she peered to the side. "You surprised me!"

"I'll take these to the living room," offered Tsumugu, acting so naturally, arranging the dishes on a tray and carrying it out of the kitchen.

"O-okay." Chisaki responded unsmoothly, who, left with nothing to hold, followed after Tsumugu. She settled beside his table, observing him quietly while he took his meal. For some months now, Chisaki had been eating her meals alone, until she learned to adjust to cooking just for two, herself and Grandpa Isamu, who was in the hospital, until she remembered to quit expecting an answer to her calls of "I'm home", even if she still continued to do so out of habit, and until she got used to leaving only her sole set of imprints on the winding, snow-carpeted road coming and going from the house.

And yet, Tsumugu's sudden presence, his wet hair glistening in the weak, mute light, him sitting crosslegged in his pajamas and eating his meal peaceably at the table felt so natural too, as if the last few months of Chisaki's solitary living never happened at all.

As Tsumugu brought the bowl of soup to his mouth, his eyes flickered to her midway. "How's nursing school?"

Chisaki startled, reeling back to the present. She swept her hair behind her ear and smiled. "So far so good. I also have the nurses at the hospital to ask questions from. They've been very kind and supportive, especially after I told them I'm going to nursing school."

"That's nice to hear," commented Tsumugu, before he touched his lips to the bowl.

"And you? How are your oceanography studies going?"

"Well enough. I've been learning a lot since joining Professor Mihashi's lab in the university."

"Professor Mihashi? Ah, that professor you spoke of."

"Mmm." Tsumugu nodded in assent.

Chisaki's eyes fell on his empty rice bowl. "Another helping of rice?"

Tsumugu shook his head. "I'm done, thank you."

"Tea?" Chisaki asked as she reached for his tray, but Tsumugu caught her wrist, stopping her. Chisaki startled again.

"I'll wash the dishes."

Chisaki blinked once, twice, and then answered, "Okay."

Tsumugu removed his hand and added, "Afterwards, some amazake would be nice."

Chisaki's muscles went lax. She found her lips curling into another smile. "Okay," she repeated, this time, softly. Against her earlier conclusions, it also took some getting used to, apparently, fitting Tsumugu back into her life. However, the space he took up was like his room, consistently kept neat and tidy, its occupant only gone somewhere, but not indefinitely, a room that would always feel lived in.

Later that evening, when they each retired to their own rooms, Chisaki studied herself in the mirror, coming to a realization that Tsumugu did not mention anything about her own haircut. Along with this realization, a feeling welled up within that she could not exactly describe as disappointment, yet felt a little like it.

She tried to arrange her now shorter strands to her liking, but after much coaxing and teasing with the hairbrush, she bit the inside of her cheeks and wrinkled a dissatisfied brow. "Does it make me too _adult_?" she thought aloud. She bounded towards her chest of drawers, pulling out one drawer at a time until she found her box of hair accessories. Her fingers skimmed the tip of her well-worn white scrunchie, the scrunchie that was one of her two reminders from Shioshishio. The other one was her white and blue sailor uniform from Nami Middle School. The uniform was hidden away from view, but she still wore the hair tie regularly, up until a few days ago. To her regret, it was now ruined beyond repair.

In the end, Chisaki settled for a white elastic band. She moved to stand by the mirror, gathered a few strands of hair, and began to fashion it into a braid. She stepped back from the mirror to admire her handiwork, though, again, she thought something was off.

Her eyes strayed back to her favorite white petals threaded with a sky-blue ribbon. She picked it up and looked closely at it. The ends were fraying, but the ribbon was still intact. Chisaki took the blue ribbon and wrapped it around the elastic band that held her braid. Now, she thought she had done just right. Not too adult nor too kiddish. It was just right.

The next morning, Chisaki was, without a doubt, disappointed that Tsumugu still did not mention anything even after the braid. _Everybody_ else noticed and had something to say. When she went to Saya Mart for groceries, Akari complimented her on her lovely hairstyle, while little Akira, fisting her mother's shirt tightly, cooed, "Saki, Saki! Lovey, lovey!" in an attempt to mimic his mother. When Chisaki smiled at Akira, the toddler ducked behind Akari's legs, peeking abashed at Chisaki.

Shun Sayama, on the other hand, let out an appreciative wolf whistle and whooped, "Looking great, Ms. Hiradaira!" Then, he grinned teasingly. "Has Tsumugu told you how great you look? He's back in town, isn't he?"

"Yes," Chisaki murmured, her cheeks flushed.

Shun squinted at Chisaki, reading her face. "Is that a 'Yes, he's back in town' or 'Yes, he said you look great'?"

Chisaki's eyes shifted to the side. "Yes, he's back in town."

"Not one word of appreciation for the lonely housewife!" Shun moaned dramatically, slapping a hand to his temple. "That guy! I need to teach him a lesson on treating you well."

"Sayama-kun!" Chisaki rebuked. "What are you saying? I'm not...We aren't like that! And he always treats me well."

"Of course. I was only kidding!" Shun laughed heartily, his hands akimbo. Chisaki thumped on his arm to get him to stop, until he eventually did, for Chisaki really could deliver a wallop if she set her mind to it. Before Chisaki went, Shun opined, in a more serious manner, "But a little more honesty between you two would help, you know."

On her way to the hospital, Chisaki crossed paths with Miuna and Sayu, both of whom admired her long, flowing hair and felt remorse when they saw how she had trimmed it up to her shoulders.

"It's such a pity, Chisaki-san. You've been growing it out for a long time, but now it's so short," Miuna said with a rueful expression.

Chisaki chuckled. "Oh, it's not _that_ short."

Sayu _tsked, tsked _disapprovingly. "Chisaki-san," she began, her tone despondent. "Didn't you know that a woman's hair is her life?"

Chisaki was taken aback. By cutting her hair, was she really cutting off a big part of her life? Did she want to? She was afraid of seeking the answer in the murky morasses of her heart and maybe it was best if she did not, _for now_. Just for now. So, she bestowed the two middle schoolers with a little smile. "It doesn't matter. It'll grow back in a few months," she told the girls and then, parted ways with them.

"That ribbon suits you," was the first thing Grandpa Isamu remarked as Chisaki assisted the bedridden, old man in sitting up.

Chisaki's face softened while dipping the towel in the basin of saltwater solution. "Thank you, grandpa. It's the ribbon from my old hair tie."

Isamu was quiet until Chisaki finished wiping him down with the saltwater-soaked cloth. His unclouded, aqua-blue eyes gazed directly into her similarly shaded ones and he spoke, "Old things are hard to let go and new things are hard to embrace."

Chisaki's breath snagged, but she mustered the strength to ask, inspite of her voice feeling small and uncertain, "What should we do, then?"

Isamu crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a moment. Then, he opened them, directing his gaze at the window, through which one could only see a blanket of cerulean sky. "We keep both and move forward."

Chisaki left the hospital, contemplative.

The days crawled along and they, Chisaki and Tsumugu, carried on as usual, except for a few moments of hanging sentences and heavy pauses on Chisaki's part. If Tsumugu ever noticed anything strange about her behavior, he kept mum about it. She would have let the sleeping dragon lie undisturbed, if only Chisaki could stop rearranging her hair while in her room.

On the very last day, before Tsumugu left to go back to the city, Chisaki installed herself in between Tsumugu and the door. Although she was bold enough to do the first thing, she needed courage, veritable courage, to do the second thing. Chisaki took her time and Tsumugu, who was of boundless patience, waited for her.

"Well...?" she started with another hanging word, patting her hair in places and pinching the end of her braid, and culminated with, "How do I look?"

Tsumugu was perplexed at the sudden onslaught. But he was smiling, most inconspicuously, as he answered what she had been wanting to hear, _"It's just like you."_

Oh, so he _did_ notice her hair.

Just like her. Chisaki liked this response very much and turned away to hide her own smile.

* * *

She had grown womanly. Three seconds was all it took for Tsumugu to understand that as Chisaki squeaked in surprise when the light from the corridor slithered in and caught on her creamy skin and svelte curves. He was caught off guard as much as her and shut out the fleeting vision as hard as he slammed the sliding screen door shut.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were back." He excused himself to leave, only to be prevented by a desperate plea of "Wait!"

He waited.

Her voice, quivering like a violin string, drifted off from the other side of the screen. "How was it? How do I look?"

_Deja vu_. Tsumugu's mind travelled back to the time when they stood face to face at the foyer and she had posed the same question about herself. But that was before the Tomoebi happened, before Hikari's reappearance and unlike before, Tsumugu knew that, whatever he would say, Chisaki would not take too well to his answer this time.

"That's quite a bold question."

She breathed out her sorrowful lament, "Have I changed?"

Tsumugu wondered himself. How does one begin to define such a thing? It was constant and inconstant; it was sensible and irrational, an incongruity in the monotony of life. So now, he would try to be both dichotomies.

He would try to be sensible. "I haven't seen you like that back then, so I don't know." And he would try to be constant. "You've always talked about it back then too, about changing and not changing."

Tsumugu lapsed into silence as he heard the beginnings of a grievous sob escaping from her lips and imagined the waterfall of tears streaming from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks, and descending past her chin.

"I didn't want to change, but I _have._"

"You _have_ changed," he echoed. He would try to be inconstant. By the time he was done, it was not just her heart he would be breaking, he would be breaking his own heart too.

"You've gotten pretty." His words were rational, but his heart was not. "You've gotten much prettier than back then." He did not need to try being irrational, because he already _was_. His heart was.

"Shouldn't that be a good change instead?" he wanted to convey, but she was cocooned too fast in her ball of sadness that his words could not reach through. One step forward, two steps backward. There was still a long way to go. All he could do for now was stay outside Chisaki's room and wait for her to calm down before he wordlessly retreated downstairs.

"Tsumugu-kun, did you get the scissors?" Professor Mihashi raised his head up from his maps.

"I couldn't find it in Chisaki's room. She must have hidden it too well," Tsumugu lied. "I'll ask her later."

The professor looked dubious, as it should not have taken Tsumugu almost half an hour. The older man did not question him, though.

"You two seem to have an awfully complicated relationship," the professor said casually, scrawling marks on the map with a red pen. "You don't act like brother and sister, but you're not like close friends either. Siblings and close friends would tease more, though I can see you're comfortable with each other. You get along well."

"We weren't always like that," admitted Tsumugu. "She did get mad at me before."

The professor hazarded a glance at Tsumugu. His assistant was not particularly talkative and was more of the reserved type. He was intelligent and hard-working; he would speak up when spoken to, but he hardly volunteered his thoughts and opinions.

"Oh? How long ago was this?"

"Too long ago," Tsumugu replied wispily, as if his thoughts had carried him to a day when he perched on the rocks, watching the back of a stark white figure wading in the sea, tendrils of her midnight-blue hair floating seaweed-like. Her dark head disappeared under the water. Tsumugu listened to the hush of the waves and the warble of the seagulls, but could not hear the sounds of swimming. When ten minutes had passed, uneasiness knotted in his stomach. What if she had gone back to her underwater village, never to return? It was an irrational feeling, yes. However, that uneasiness immediately dissolved into foam the moment the same dark-headed, white clad figure burst through the water surface several feet away from the spot where she dove in and the glare of sunlight sparked off a rainbow prism sheen to the ena on her bare shoulders that made his heart careen. That day was also the first and last time he indirectly confessed that he liked her the way she was when he told her, _"I don't hate the way you are right now."_

"Remembering a good memory?" Professor Mihashi interrupted his reverie.

Tsumugu snapped his attention back on the professor. "Something like that." Half of it _was_, but the remainder was eclipsed by recollections of arabesque emotions and pained expressions when she _did_ dive down under for good.

"I think I understand why you're not dating anyone," insinuated the professor while he neatly rolled up the maps.

Tsumugu's eyebrows went up.

"Let me tell you this, as your adviser and senior in life." Professor Mihashi paused for effect and then, intoned sagaciously, "You should tell her how you feel." He rendered Tsumugu a friendly pat on the shoulder and smothered a yawn as he stumbled along the hallway and into the guest room. "I'm turning in for the night now."

_Dating_. He did have a little experience at it, but it was just one group date and he only joined because his roommate urged him.

"Come on, Kihara-kun! Please, please say yes! We just need one more guy to complete the group!" hopelessly begged Tsumugu's roommate at that time. He was a Business major, a city boy whose home was, in reality, not too far away from the university he was attending. However, he wanted to live independently, so, with his parent's permission, he moved out of the house. He lead his own busy life and seldom bothered Tsumugu. This would be the first time he asked a favor.

According to his roommate, the other guys were his buddies from the sports club, but one of them texted that he could not make it because of a prior engagement. He was then hard-pressed to find a replacement, yet luck was against his side. In the end, his roommate turned to him – the last choice – for help. Hence, his roommate's currently prostrate form in his room.

Tsumugu glanced away from his textbook and asked, deliberating, "When is it?"

"Well, it's not that soon..." his voice trailed off, his eyes and fingers fidgety. "...In eight hours?"

"That's tonight," Tsumugu pointed out.

His roommate worked rapidly to get his point across. "Yes, tonight! One of my buddies backed out, so we're missing one more guy. The girls all come from a women's college and we didn't want to disappoint them by lacking in numbers. So, are you in or not?"

He did not reply immediately. To be honest, this kind of thing was far from his concerns or worries and maybe it was curiosity or maybe it was something else that did make him agree.

"Okay. Tell me the time and place."

It was going to be just this once, after all.

The appointed time arrived and Tsumugu came to the meeting destination as told. The guys did not especially wear anything different from the usual shirt, jeans, and jacket, as long as they made it a point to look decent. However, it was another story for the girls. They really took the time and effort to primp up – styling hairs, curling lashes, applying blushes on cheeks, painting lips red, and matching nails with the color of their dresses. There was already that much to fuss about. They had not even started on wardrobes – color-coordinating accessories with blouses, flouncy skirts, and killer platform shoes or three-inch stilettos.

Tsumugu began to wonder if the womenfolk of Oshioshi paid as much care when they went out on dates. Would Chisaki?

At first, they all went out for dinner at an affordable but delicious restaurant that served tasteful desserts, which the girls gushed over. Tsumugu was opposite a beautiful, porcelain china doll, a potential head turner. She was pale-skinned, with her light curls framed artfully around her heart-shaped face. Her knee-length dress was impeccably unwrinkled even when she sat down. She was a perfect foil for Tsumugu, who was _tall, dark, _and _handsome, _whispered the girls excitedly within their group when they moved on to the next venue. In the karaoke room, the guys and ladies paired off again. Ms. Porcelain Doll chose, of her own will, to sit next to Tsumugu, to the envy of the guys.

The legal age was twenty, but some places, the _shady_ ones, did not check for I.D.. Apparently, the karaoke place they rented out was one of such places, for the sodas and fruit juices were replaced with alcoholic drinks as the night grew old.

The party grew a bit wild, especially those who had imbibed a bottle too much. Tsumugu had abstained but his partner, he saw, was getting some color in her cheeks from drinking a spiked lemonade, he suspected. She was also swaying unsteadily in her seat. Tsumugu tapped the shoulder of one of her friends to ask where she lived so he could take her home. As soon as he got the directions, he gently took Ms. Porcelain Doll, now red-cheeked, by her elbow and said, "I'll take you home."

She was wobbly on her feet but Tsumugu managed to get her past the door and out of the karaoke bar. But from there, everything went downhill. The girl snaked her arm too tightly around Tsumugu's that her chest rubbed too close to his arm. She wretched and threw up the remnants of her dinner in a trash can. Tsumugu did not trust her to be lucid enough to remember her bus stop, so he accompanied her on the bus. As he sat in the bus, Tsumugu felt a weight pile down on his right shoulder. His first thought was, "Chisaki, you're heavy."

"Who'sh Chishaki?" an unfamiliar voice slurred, hot breath tickling his ear.

Tsumugu started in alarm. This was not Chisaki he was presently with, he realized, but precisely because it was not her, he could be truthful. "Somebody I miss."

"I have shumbody I mish too."

After that, she began to snore peacefully, using Tsumugu's shoulder as a pillow. By the time they had reached her flat, she had sobered up a bit.

"Oh dear. Aya always gets like this when she's had a little drink. I tell her she doesn't need to do this just to get her boyfriend's attention, but it seems like it worked. Yuuji! Aya's home now!" hollered her flatmate.

"Aya!" cried a man, who came barreling through the front door and crushed Aya into a bone-breaking hug. "You had me so worried!"

"Yuuji?" Aya called out tentatively. They went around in circles repeating each other's names. Aya's tears spilled out, but Yuuji was there to catch them, comforting her, caressing her back. "Don't cry, don't cry. It's okay now, love. It's all okay."

If Tsumugu could do it over like this moment, when his ears first caught Chisaki's lament, he would have ripped the sliding screen door open and stormed into the room to fold his arms around her without regard for her state of undress, touching skin to skin.

This girl, now grown a desirable, comely woman, he wanted to take her in his arms, to kiss her tears away, and give her hope and comfort. "Don't cry, don't cry. It's okay. It's all okay."

"_You have changed._" It's okay.

"_You've gotten pretty_." That's okay too.

"_Much prettier than back then_." Isn't that enough?

He would try to be constant and inconstant; sensible and irrational, all for her, as long as she accepted it. _Change_.

Tsumugu's eyes snapped open, his heart squeezing as he gasped sharply. A _dream_. It was all a dream when he walked into her room and held her. Except for the rise and fall of his chest, he lay perfectly still, eyes wide awake as he fixed his stare at the ceiling, daring not to surrender to sleep, because if he did, the alluring figure of that half-dressed body would be seared indelibly into the back of his eyelids and it would haunt him for days to come. But the longer he lay in the dark, the more oppressive the atmosphere grew, the more it choked him, until his entire being was sticky with sweat and he felt the lack of oxygen. He reached a point he could not stand it any longer that he kicked off the suffocating blankets and then, pushed himself up to a sitting position.

Tsumugu needed a cold drink of water.

He padded down the hallway, careful not to let the wooden floorboards groan. Too familiar with the layout of the house, he did not need to turn on the light fixtures and navigated his way by the silver light of the moon. He had already committed to memory the exact number of steps it took to reach the refrigerator from the bottom of the stairs.

Having refreshed himself, he trudged back upstairs. His hand touched the groove of his door, yet he stopped and turned towards Chisaki's room. His feet carried him across the hall to stand right in front of Chisaki's shadowy room. He raised his hand and afforded a knock, a soft whisper of a knock. When there was no answer, he slid the door open a few inches and finding no movement inside the room, he crossed the threshold. In the darkness, Tsumugu could make out the nebulous outline of furniture in her room, as well as, trace the bulky shape of her sleeping, breathing form on the tatami floor.

Tonight, Chisaki slept dreamlessly on her back, her hand tossed out palm exposed beside her round, white face in the pale moonlight, her dark blue hair fanned out on the pillow in abandonment. Tsumugu stood next to her futon, a tall shadow peering down at her from his vantage, cultivating a sense of distance far away from her. Tsumugu bent down on his knees to gain a closer view. But he went no further than look and watch. There was a line he did not, would not cross.

He spent like an eternity watching, just watching, her in her restful slumber. This was not the first time he did it, nor would it be the last.

"I don't hate the way you are right now," Tsumugu murmured, despite his words falling on deaf ears. He extended a hand to brush away a wayward strand of hair that fell on her mouth, but he stayed his hand when Chisaki suddenly made a sound in her throat and stirred a little. In her sleep, Chisaki turned away from him. Tsumugu snatched back his hand and closed it into a fist as he dropped it on his thigh. He got up to his feet and gave her one last look, one last time.

"I hope someday you would think the same way too," he said, sliding the door close as gently as possible, Chisaki unaware of her midnight visitor.

* * *

You can imagine the date scene here as the one briefly mentioned in my other story, Her Red-bellied Sea Slug, hehe. I'm afraid I have this penchant for self-insert/original characters, so you'll have to bear with them. And I guess, this is the first Tsusaki I wrote that's based on an actual scene in the story, though I did my best to expand on it. I hope you enjoyed this installment of Growing Pains. I'm already writing the next part as I speak. It's a bit of a tall order as it's going to be about Tsumugu and Chisaki's coming-of-age ceremony, among a few other short stories. As usual, please do look forward to it!


	3. Drowning

Growing Pains 3

_Three times did Tsumugu sink into the sea and two times he did drown. If there would be a fourth, that would be now. / Tsumugu was a safe place. In their five years, Chisaki trusted him to be her safe place. And yet, why did it have to change now?_

* * *

Three times did Tsumugu sink into the sea and two times he did drown.

The first time...Tsumugu tried to remember the first time. He was but eight years old and he remembered chucking off his slippers and running loose barefoot on the gravelly sand in only his swimming trunks. He liked how his feet left imprints on the sand wherever he treaded. He also liked the feel of the sand slipping in between his toes. Young Tsumugu played a game with the waves chasing him across the crescent of beach while he hopped away from its reach. Then, he would chase back the waves and withdraw again when it was the sea's turn.

His mother, on the other hand, hiding her discomfort, tried to strut with as much grace as possible, but she could be seen lifting her sandal-clad feet toe up in the air in an effort to tap off the sand. As for his father, he was reclining on a beach chair, reading a novel, fully dressed and fully out of place.

Tsumugu rose up from the sand fortress he was building and his eyes roamed the beach in search of somebody when there came a grunt behind him. He turned around to see his grandfather crouched down on the sand, digging up, with both hands, a protrusion glinting in the daylight and sticking up from the sand. When he had finally unburied the object, he lifted it up to the light. It was a pebble, no, it was a sea-green, transluscent stone.

Tsumugu's eyes went as round as the stone before him. Reverently, he reached out his palms to receive it but was taken by surprise when his grandfather missed his outstretched hands and dropped the stone with a _clang_ into the empty pail at his feet. Tsumugu looked back to find the old man wearing an amused half smile.

They spent a good deal of the next hour combing the shore for other treasure. Sometimes, they found sea shells that were mostly empty, but sometimes grew legs and ran off from them. Other times, they uncovered smoothened rocks of varying shapes and colors. But, there were plenty more of flotsam and jetsam washing up onshore.

"Grandpa." Tsumugu deposited the latest discovery, a gold and silver spoon, into his almost brimming pail. "Do you also have these things underwater?"

Isamu gazed at his grandson, expression neutral, and then, he inclined his head seaward. "Yes. Even better."

Tsumugu's heartbeat quickened at the promise those words held. Then, "Ah, Grandpa. Your ena." Tsumugu found the words stumbling out of his mouth when the cracks on his skin caught his attention and alarmed him.

Isamu held up his elbow and indeed, the ena was coming off in flakes. He had stayed too long under the heat of the relentless sun. Yet, Isamu only said calmly, "I'll only be a while."

He went farther along the coast, towards the rockier parts, Tsumugu tailing him. Isamu waded in the blue waters until he was shoulder deep in it and then, his head bobbed under and did not surface again for the next few minutes. Tsumugu balanced on the edge of a big boulder, head bowed, amethyst eyes trying to pierce through the depths of the sea and catching a silvery white flash underneath that could be a trick of light or just his imagination. He clambered down from the boulder and dipped his toes, then his feet into the cold waters. Tsumugu pushed through the deeper parts and soon found that he could not touch the ground with his feet anymore. He flailed his arms and kicked his legs to keep afloat but his feet cramped up and his arms tired quickly. He was not getting any nearer inland and was instead being tugged farther away by the rolling tide. He paddled harder with his limbs, yet it only stirred the waves to tousle him, mocking his futile attempts, until the sea overcame him. Tsumugu finally stopped fighting and seawater entered his lungs as he sank deeper and deeper. His last memory moments before descending into the abyss was of strong arms gathering around him and pulling him up to the surface...

Tsumugu coughed up water and then, awoke gulping for air. Slim arms wrapped around his neck and it was followed by relieved voices.

"Tsumugu! Thank God!"

"Son, are you okay!?"

Tsumugu was disoriented at first, like he was still sinking underwater, but eventually, it all returned to him and he found his bearings. He was on the shore, lying on the gritty sand. He was drowning a while ago, but he was safe now. He wanted to follow his grandfather...

Tsumugu hugged back his mother fiercely, as much an attempt to shake off the sensations he felt. "I'm okay, mom, dad," he reassured. It was unspoken but his words were also meant for his grandpa standing back at a distance.

Still, despite his assurances, his parents insisted on taking him to the nearest hospital to do a check-up, worried he might still have water in his lungs or be mentally traumatized by the experience. After Tsumugu was diagnosed as healthy, the doctor left him in the room for a bit, neglecting to shut the door properly. Hushed, angry voices filtered through the crack.

The first voice spoke with strong resentment. "I knew it was the wrong idea to take him to these yearly visits to Oshiooshi. He almost suffered the same fate as my older brother."

The second voice released an anguished cry. "Oh, God. We almost lost him to the sea!"

From that conversation, Tsumugu derived two things. One, that he was banned from going near the sea. Two, that this would be their last visit to Oshiooshi. Isamu knew as well, for Tsumugu noted the melancholy in his sea-blue eyes.

On the day they left to go back to the city, Grandpa Isamu had gifted him with a conch shell that fit just right in his childish palms. Tsumugu's parents turned a blind eye, yet Tsumugu did not miss the frown on his father's features nor the anxious lines carved on his mother's forehead. Tsumugu quickly stowed away the shell in his backpack, afraid his parents might discard the precious item as soon as they drive out of Oshiooshi.

His parents were, by nature, city people. Tsumugu could see how his mother seemed more at ease, more confident walking in pointed high heels than crunching sand beneath her sandals or how his father lost his stormy mood and looked more relaxed in the comfort of his concrete city house.

Yet, Tsumugu was different. He was more restrained in the city. He felt misplaced. He ached for that vast expanse of blue. Against his parents' knowledge, Tsumugu stashed a portion of his daily allowance so he could make frequent trips to the aquarium. Tsumugu's favorite part was sitting in the room with the biggest tank and passing long minutes watching contentedly as the fish, big and small, darted back and forth. When he arrived home, Tsumugu did not let on about his after school activities. He would eat his meals obediently; he would take a bath, do his homework quietly in his room, and every night, Tsumugu would lie down in bed, pressing the seashell to his ear and falling asleep to the _sshh sshh _of the waves.

However, his routine was broken when his parents discovered about his trips to the aquarium. His mother was not so harsh in reprimanding him, yet his father was more imposing. If there were no after school activities, Tsumugu was to go home immediately.

Days passed. Tsumugu continued to eat his meals obediently and go straight to his room to do his homework. His only solace was his grandpa's seashell. Night after night, he was lulled to sleep listening to the resounding tides trapped in the seashell much like how his longing was trapped in his heart.

One day, Tsumugu formulated a plan. He took out his tin box of savings hidden in one of his drawers. There were more coins than paper bills, it seemed, judging from the sharp jangling it made when he tried to shake the box. But he was not disheartened and began to count everything he had. By the time he finished counting, he estimated he had enough to purchase a child's train ticket to Oshiooshi.

The phone rang loudly at the Kihara residence. The older Kihara picked it up.

"Kihara," he said tersely into the receiver.

A young voice crackled over the telephone. "Grandpa."

"Tsumugu?" Isamu called out, the slightest disbelief in his voice.

"Grandpa," repeated Tsumugu and then, "I'm at the train station."

Tsumugu held his breath, anticipating his grandfather's reply. He almost thought that the call might have been disconnected when he heard shuffling and Isamu finally replied, "I'll come for you."

Tsumugu did not pack much except for a few days' worth of clothing, the remainder of his savings from his tin box, and his seashell. Isamu did not ask if his son was aware of Tsumugu's actions and only gave a silent nod towards his cargo bicycle. Tsumugu sat just as silently at the back of the cargo bike. His heart pounded tremendously in his ribcage, fearful of what his father might do to him, but the swish of waves nearby echoing like a sweet refrain in his ears eased his body and mind and then, his heart. He no longer felt trapped.

It took no less than a couple of hours for the phone to ring again. This time, it was Isamu's son calling.

"Father, is he there?"

"Yes."

"We're coming over to pick him up."

"Understood."

They exchanged words that were clipped, impersonal, like a business transaction between two strangers. Isamu turned to Tsumugu. "You heard that?"

"Mmm," Tsumugu hummed in his throat, nodding. He did not really hear the voice on the other line, but he could imagine what it might have said.

They waited in the living room. Isamu sat at the porch mending his fishing net, while Tsumugu observed, pulling his knees up to his chest.

"Grandpa, thank you," Tsumugu spoke. "For saving me before."

"Hrgh," briefly acknowledged Isamu, his concentration fully on his work.

The house was quiet, as quiet as its occupants. Gradually, the shadows stretched longer and the light from outside grew weaker. Tsumugu's eyelids felt heavier. If he focused enough, he could hear the distant waves going _sshh, sshh, _telling him to go to sleep...

A sharp, dissonant rap on the door interrupted the scene. Tsumugu jerked awake.

"Father! We're coming in!" announced a male voice.

The screen door slid open sideways. On the other side stood two dark silhouettes in the dusky light. The dark silhouettes resolved into the familiar shape of his parents.

"Tsumugu!" Tsumugu's mother rushed to his side, gripping his shoulders tightly. "You had us so worried! How could you run off like that?"

"I'm sorry," Tsumugu mumbled, eyes guiltily pointing to the floor.

"Father." Tsumugu's father stepped forward and lowered his head. "I apologize for my son's rash behavior. This will never happen again." It was all he said, no preamble, no familiarity, no indication of addressing a family member. He spun about as quickly as he marched in. "Tsumugu, we're going home."

"No."

Tsumugu's mother's eyes grew wide as her mouth that formed a gasp. His father turned to face the room again, his brows knitting together.

"What do you mean 'no'?" asked Tsumugu's father, unperturbed.

On the inside, Tsumugu's heart was cantering wildly, but on the outside, he appeared as calm and steady as any Kihara man. "I'm sorry, dad," he started, amethyst eyes locking with his father's. "I'm staying here, with grandpa."

Tsumugu's father stared long at him, sizing him up. Finally, he said, "Are you sure about this son?"

Tsumugu did not need to think twice when he answered firmly, "Yes."

Then began his life by the sea. For years, he also thought that he had already begun to understand the sea, until he met a pair of aquamarine eyes belonging to a round face framed by hair as vivid blue as the sea. The sea could be a serene existence and she could also be a violent one. And when she was being violent, there was no resisting her temper. Years later, for the second time, he fell into the sea and for the second time, he drowned. He was fourteen years old and already learned how to swim at that point, yet he had not the power to resist any more than he did years ago. His greatest regret, he thought, was not getting a chance to see that hidden place in the waters. However, it seemed that the sea did not wish for his demise yet. Instead, the sea was his savior. She came, like a silver fish weaving in and out of the whirpools, towards him, right before he lost his vision, as well as, his consciousness.

The third time would be five years after. He did not drown; he _was_ drowning and like the first and second time, he was past resisting. For the third time though, he admitted it was entirely his fault, his foolishness for diving into the twilit waters and for thinking he could handle the sea now. Maybe he might really drown for good this time. His lungs were in pain and it was getting deathly cold. He lived longing for the sea's embrace and if he would die in her embrace, then so be it.

But what was this nimbus of soft light surrounding him? His ears could also identify a gritty sound, like sand being rubbed between fingers. The water undulated gently around him, nurturing, protecting. Suddenly, the pain and the cold went away and he found that he could breathe normally underwater. It was still a bit cold but he could deal with it.

"I see. So, this is what it means to have ena."

He was awash with euphoria. He was always on the surface of the sea, held back by his inabilities. Now, he could be _with_ the sea.

"Hikari, would you let me go alone from here?"

Hikari looked alarmed. "Alone? But you haven't been to the village–"

"I want to face her properly," Tsumugu decided, his amethyst eyes willful. "Otherwise, I won't be able to move forward."

Hikari scrutinized Tsumugu for a moment before he conceded. "I got it. Please be careful." Hikari kicked upwards, Tsumugu watching his retreating figure grow minute until it disappeared through the hole that lead to the surface.

"Sea!" issued a shrill screech, reminding Tsumugu that his fish companion had not yet left, floundering in spirals around him and shrieking the same word in a loop of "Sea! Sea!"

Tsumugu smiled fondly. "My friend, will you lead the way?"

The fish seemed to understand, as it stopped circling him and zigzagged a path towards the direction of Shioshishio. Tsumugu scissored through the inky waters, guided by the fish, until he could see, looming in the distance, a village veiled in gloom.

Tsumugu could also see her solitary figure traversing the bridge. He touched down on the bridge a short distance behind her. Seemingly alerted to his presence, she turned around. She cut the distance between them and was immediately concerned for his welfare. He was there, in Shioshishio. He was breathing underwater. _Impossible_ things. But they were impossible _truths_. And now, he would tell her more impossible truths.

"I love the sea."

"I thought you were like the sea."

Ah, just as he thought, her eyes truly shimmered like the sea. If there would be a fourth time to drown, that would be now, because right now, he was drowning in those shimmering aqua-blue depths. No, he had already drowned countless times.

* * *

Tsumugu was a safe place. In their five years, Chisaki trusted him to be her safe place, a lifeline that weathered the violent waves for her, steering her through the tempests, and anchoring her firmly to the ground. Chisaki trusted him to be her constant, such that, despite the passing of the seasons year by year and the turning of the calendar day by day, page by page, he was grounded, unwavering, firm, _steady_.

And yet, why did it have to change now? That very moment, Chisaki could only stare mutely, emotions warring on her face, as he laid bare things she was afraid to bare and made her feel things she was afraid to feel.

But, despite her fears, Chisaki listened. "I've never stopped watching you, these five years." Her voice caught up, not in her throat, but down deeper in her heart, like the valves would allow no words to flow.

"Just as I've come to understand the sea by living beside it, I think I've finally come to understand you." Chisaki was a fish caught in a net.

"I can sense when you're angry, laughing, or crying." Chisaki was a fish pinioned by his gaze.

"I can sense it." And he was a fishmonger who had cut her open and dissected her innards...

"And right now, I sense you have feelings for me." ...exposing her flaws, insecurities, and then, her heart's desires... "Am I mistaken?"

Tsumugu pulled her in as he would pull in a net onboard.

"L-let go of me..." Chisaki struggled weakly.

"I'll let go, if I'm mistaken." She must escape from the net.

"If I'm not..." Quick, she must escape now! With all her might, she tore free from his embrace in a flurry of jacket and sleeves.

"You're mistaken!" Her voice reverberated in whorls. "I don't love you, Tsumugu!"

The words whorled in the air and lodged in her chest like a tremble that would not settle down. She was afraid of this feeling. And so, she turned to run, her feet carrying her across the bridge, away from Tsumugu. She bolted, blind to her surroundings, past the terraces, the shrine road, and pounded down the steps, down, down, down, and losing herself in the Shioshishio of old, clinging hard to past scenes, memories, feelings. She must not betray them...

"I musn't! I musn't! I musn't!" _I musn't! _

But cold, lonely Shioshishio would not respond to her. It was only filled with empty silence. Before she realized it, she had stopped running and found her heart doing half hiccups as her cheeks were stained wet from the tears in her eyes. She stood rooted to the spot, unable to tame the hiccups of her heart.

"Chisaki."

She whirled around. At the same time, the hiccups stopped abruptly, that voice tethering her flailing heart.

He took one, two steps closer and Chisaki took one step backward. "No! Don't come any closer! Don't look! I don't want you to see how pathetic I look!" She squeezed out in between sobs.

"Chisaki," Tsumugu repeated. He boldly kept stepping forward, while Chisaki kept backing up until her feet hit the balustrade.

"No, no, no..." Chisaki protested, her voice muffled against his chest. Her tongue collided with her heart like the waves colliding against the sea wall. His arms enveloped her entirely, wholly, _firmly_. She stopped fighting back and let time stretch on until her sobs subsided to a lull. Tsumugu stirred first and loosened his hold around Chisaki. Tsumugu gazed at her and told her, "Let's go."

Chisaki looked questioningly at him. "...Where to...?"

Tsumugu gently laced his fingers through hers. Chisaki's glance went to their linked hands, yet she did not jerk her hand away.

"Shioshishio," said Tsumugu.

She did not understand what he meant. "But we already _are_ in Shioshishio."

"But not _your_ Shioshishio."

"Oh," formed Chisaki's mouth.

"Show me," he continued and pulled her hand, leading the way as if he knew the lay of the land.

The trembling in her heart started again and it wouldn't stop. She did not love him; she _must not _love him. That was the truth.

* * *

This chapter isn't too long but it took a while to finish because I was working on an MV in between. If you have time please do check it out :) ! Just remove the parentheses in the link: (blottyparchment).(tumblr).com(/)post/81019554244/give-your-heart-a-break-tsumugu-x-chisaki-nagi

Next week's the last episode and I hope we'll get a satisfying conclusion.


	4. Coming of Age I: Did You See Uroko-sama?

Note: This was first drafted before NagiAsu ended, so it's slightly AU-ish and follows the same AU as the last chapter. You'll see what I mean as you read along.

Growing Pains 4

_Chisaki found the sea hidden in one of the trunks: a turquoise sea to compliment her eyes, with creases like ripples in the water, netted with a quarry of corals and a banner of fishes. _

* * *

Chisaki found, under the careful instructions of Grandpa Isamu, the _sea_ hidden in one of the trunks: a turquoise sea to compliment her eyes, with creases like ripples in the water, netted with a quarry of corals and a banner of fishes. The first time she unfolded it and hugged its length close to her body in front of the mirror, she could not picture how it would look on her. The length fell a handspan below her knees, so she needed to adjust the hem to make it longer. Today, Chisaki wore the _sea_, fitting her arms into the sleeves, breathless, not because the obi was wrapped too snugly around her waist, but because all kinds of feelings were welling up and yet she could not put any into words.

"Chisaki-chan, your eyes are watering."

For the past fifteen minutes, Chisaki had been fighting the urge to blink her eyes. "Sorry, Akari-san. I'm just not used to make-up."

Akari paused to pay Chisaki a smile and a kind look before she resumed tracing the pencil over Chisaki's lashes. "Just a little more and this 'torture' will be over, okay?...There, we're done!"

Akari stepped back from Chisaki and taking her gently by the shoulders, spun her about to face the mirror. Chisaki was speechless, but the other girls gushed over her. Her midnight-blue hair, grown out up to the middle of her back, was twisted into an eloquent bun, held fast by an ornate white pin that contrasted well with her hair and furisode. The furisode draped beautifully, its turquoise shade was the splendid blue of the sea on a cloudless, sun-bright day, so brilliantly captured by whoever designed the cloth. It could mesmerize; it could beckon.

"Wow. Chii-chan, you look like a bride!"

Chisaki's red-tinged cheeks grew even redder.

"Silly Manaka. Today is Chisaki and Tsumugu's Coming of Age," floated off a voice just beyond the screen door.

"Hii-kun! You're not supposed to peek while Chii-chan's dressing up!" Manaka glared at the door, her brows dipping like a valley.

Hikari, his arms crossed casually behind his head, sauntered in without as much as a by-your-leave. "You girls were so noisy we could hear everything next door."

"It looks pretty on you, Chisaki. _You_ look pretty," commented Kaname, appearing at the mouth of the room.

"Peety!" imitated Akira, jutting out his chubby arms at Chisaki and the only thing stopping him from clawing her robe was Miuna keeping a tight lease. "Akira! Don't touch the pretty robe, okay? You don't want to ruin it, do you?" she scolded. After a while, the indomitable toddler at last gave up on breaking away from the prison of his sister's arms and settled down in his "cage" sulkily.

"May we come in?" Kaname entreated, even though Hikari had already invited himself in.

Chisaki nodded. Earlier, there was still room yet to maneuver, even with Akira milling about restlessly, in her constricting furisode with its hanging sleeves, but now there appeared to be less space with the addition of two boys, one quiet, the other rowdy, as rowdy as ten combined. Somewhere along, Akira was somehow liberated of Miuna's guard and it only took three pairs of hands bearing down on him to contain the little bundle of chaos, saving Chisaki's robe from ruin.

Meanwhile, Manaka bounded towards Chisaki and snatched up her hands, Manaka's smaller ones encircling her bigger hands. Manaka stared up at her, eyes bright with innocence. "Chii-chan, you're going to be a grown-up now?"

Chisaki could feel the advent of tears pooling in her eyes. "Yes," she breathed out, the rest of her words choked up in her throat.

"But Chii-chan will still be Chii-chan, right?" Manaka continued, smiling as if nothing else mattered.

Chisaki could only nod at first, but it was not enough and so, taking all effort to get her voice to work again, she managed another "Yes."

"Chisaki, are you ready?"

Chisaki's eyes flickered to the door, to the tall figure standing there, and the rest of the room followed, but while they could sing pretty praises for Chisaki, they could not do the same for Tsumugu, because they could only stare in silent awe.

Let it be said that they had never _ever _seen Tsumugu wearing a suit. They eyed him from top to bottom: from his black jacket over a blue dress shirt and plain-white tie, down to his black trousers and polished black leather shoes. The most striking in his appearance today, anybody would agree, was his ashen hair brushed back. A few locks of hair strayed on his forehead, but he was, without a doubt, a different-looking Tsumugu.

Hikari's mouth hung open, as if he was going to say "Wow" but the word would not flow out and Manaka beat him to it. "Wow, Tsumugu-kun looks very handsome!"

"You look very proper, Tsumugu," Kaname added, nodding sagely.

"Swoon-worthy!" Sayu exclaimed, her thoughts drifting to a different image, of a certain sandy-haired boy wearing a similar ensemble, and she expelled an airy sigh that did not escape Kaname's attention and made him hoard a secret chuckle.

"You can really see the difference now, huh?" Hikari murmured to himself and then, recovering from his stupor, he broke into a grin. "Tsumugu, looking good there!"

"Thank you," returned Tsumugu, a ghost of a smile on his lips. He shifted his gaze. "Chisaki?"

Neglected for a few seconds, now all eyes reeled back to her, for which she was unprepared for, but before she could process what to say, she was already being nudged from behind–by Hikari or was it Manaka?–her zori going _clack-clack-clack_ on the wooden floor as they jostled her forward. She made a wrong step, losing her balance, and tilted over in her wooden sandals...

"...Oof," grunted Tsumugu, who had moved, quicksilver-fast, to catch Chisaki in his arms.

Chisaki slowly raised her head, instantly arrested by his deep purple gaze, and was reminded of another seascape, that of the night sea. A calm sea. A calm gaze.

"Are you alright?"

Chisaki startled. "I-I'm fine," she stuttered and so did her heart. Abruptly, in panic, she let out a hiccup of a gasp and released her fingers clutching his sleeves. "I'm sorry! I'm wrinkling your coat!" Chisaki stumbled back, wooden sandals clacking against wooden floor, sleeves swinging at her sudden movement.

"I don't mind," Tsumugu admitted, straightening up.

A throaty sound came from behind and the two twisted around to find Grandpa Isamu standing there in the hallway.

"It's time for you two to go."

Isamu contemplated Chisaki's appearance, the plains of his face immutable. Chisaki tried her best not to fidget under his heavy scrutiny. After a while, he nodded, a subtle flick of the head. "Ayane will like it."

Chisaki blinked, her brows creasing at the name's mention. She turned to Tsumugu, posing a silent question in her eyes.

"It belonged to her," Tsumugu explained.

But still, this did not erase the crease on her brows. Chisaki chose not to dwell on the answer or–more aptly–lack of and turned towards the interior of the room to tumble out her 'thank yous' and 'farewells'. Then, they made their way down the stairs and out of the house. They had already left the hilltop, the descent down the slope slow, when Tsumugu revealed, "Ayane is my grandmother's name."

"I see." Chisaki assumed as much, that such a precious and carefully kept article of clothing must have belonged to an important family member.

"She did not alter it, hoping she could preserve it for a daughter."

Chisaki, for some reason, felt her heart squeeze. "Did you...?" she started to ask, but broke off.

"No. Sadly, Grandma Ayane died before I was even born," Tsumugu replied quietly.

Chisaki trained her eyes downwards, her voice small and contained as she said, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. I didn't know her enough to mourn her loss, but it's different for grandpa. His wife hasn't been by his side for more than half his life. His son left Oshiooshi as soon as he graduated from high school. Since then, grandpa's lived alone."

There was something, in the sandpaper-rough candor of his voice, in the way he worded his grandfather's story, as if Tsumugu was an outsider detached, no, it was something else.

"You felt his loneliness," Chisaki intuited. "That's why you chose to live with your grandfather."

Tsumugu lifted his chin and angled his head towards Chisaki, who also did the same.

"He's lucky to have you," she finished.

The corner of Tsumugu's lips hinted a semblance of a smile and he stared into Chisaki's light eyes. "The same goes for you."

"Huh?" Chisaki stared back in confusion.

"We're lucky to have you too."

Chisaki let out an "Oh" halfway between genuinely surprised and pleasantly surprised and then, bowed her head to hide her embarrasment and the flushed heat that bloomed on her cheeks.

"Chisaki, Tsumugu!" They heard a voice cry as they reached the bottom of the slope. They raised their eyes and there, standing on the hilltop in a haphazard row, were Hikari, Manaka, and the others.

"Chii-chaaan! Tsumugu-kuuun!" Manaka, cupping her hands over her mouth, yelled after Hikari, who was brandishing his hand vigorous as a flag fluttering to the tune of the wind.

As one, the group on the hilltop belted out a symphony of, "Happy Coming of Age!"

* * *

Shun Egawa sat in a row with his other high school friends–Takeshi Egawa, Kaori Akiyoshi, and Yuu Seiki–engaging in idle chatter while they waited for the ceremony to begin.

"I can't wait to get out of this stifling costume," Shun grumbled under his breath, tugging on his necktie like it was an elastic spring for the last half hour.

Kaori barked out a laugh. "Costume?"

Shun scowled. "What? Do I need to wear a coat and tie while manning the counter at Saya Mart or when I'm delivering goods with the pickup truck?"

"Point taken," Kaori conceded, leaning back in her seat and producing a pocket-sized mirror to inspect her appearance.

"After this, we'll truly be full-fledged members of society," murmured Takeshi in an undertone of awe. Unlike Shun who was restless with his hands, Takeshi rested his fists on his lap and remained that way since he first sat down.

Yuu smiled, all red lips, and bumped shoulders with Kaori. "You still look perfect," she whispered confidentially and then, in a louder voice, "You have it easy, Egawa-kun. You already have a job and a wife." The fact of Takeshi Egawa's early foray into adulthood was well-known in Oshiooshi. Who would not be privy to the news when, literally, _everybody_ shopped at Saya Mart and brought home not just groceries, but gossip as well?

"And a cute daughter to boot," chirped Kaori, snapping the mirror close and replacing it in her pouch.

Shun, leaving his mangled tie to rest, joined in. "He's not obliged to provide for his family because the girl's family is well-to-do."

And Kaori added, "If he does well enough at his job and earns the favor of his father-in-law, he has a shot at taking over the business!'

"You guys talk like I'm not here." Takeshi winced. "You don't know how scary my father-in-law is!" He shuddered at the thought.

"Scarier than Tsumugu's grandpa? You don't say!" Shun managed in between fits of laughter. He was finally starting to be comfortable in his adult suit and nothing could unseat him from his good mood, he was sure.

Yuu roamed her eyes over the sea of heads in the hall. "Which reminds me, where are those two?"

"There they are! Over here, you two!" Shun wave his hand in an arc to draw the attention of a newly arrived pair–one fair-skinned woman donning a beautiful aquamarine furisode, the other a tan-skinned man in a black formal suit.

The hall was not so big, holding no less than a hundred twenty-year old youths at the moment, but Shun's row was third from the front stage, so the two had quite a ways to walk down the aisle and people could not avoid _not_ looking. Together, they appeared eye-catching–a sea shade and an earth shade. Here was another well-known story in Oshiooshi–of how Chisaki Hiradairi came to live with Tsumugu Kihara and his grandfather and of practically growing up together almost like siblings. But 'siblings' was a gossamer-thin label for describing what existed between them because it was more than just sharing a roof or meals, or displays or _non_-displays of familial or friendly affection. The truth was a pounding heartbeat or a quiet stirring in one's breast–it breathed solely between them.

"Where have you two been?" Shun asked as soon as they settled down on the empty seats to his left. He took in their slightly but not too disheveled appearance and his mouth split into a cheshire grin, his eyes glinting. "Don't tell me you two–?"

Chisaki's cheeks burned and she shook her head. "–No! It's not what you think, Sayama-kun."

"We went to offer respect at the Fish shrine," Tsumugu said without embellishments.

The Fish shrine was what they called the little shrine in a grove of trees on a bluff overlooking the sea. Long had it been since it was left untouched by man until, recently, sea and land folks alike started coming by more and more often. Sometimes, there were sightings of Uroko-sama, yet he never appeared for more than a flicker of the eye. Chance a blink and you would miss him.

Shun was curious. "Did you...see Uroko-sama?"

* * *

And I leave you hanging there! This story was going to be one big sprawling chapter but I decided it would be best to split it into parts (about 2-3) because it just keeps writing itself, lol.

As for the Coming of Age, it's a celebration in Japan for those who turn twenty, which is the legal age. On this day, the women wear long-sleeved traditional kimono called furisode. The furisode can also be worn on other occasions like festivals, but it's basically worn by unmarried women. The men may either wear hakama pants or a western suit. Chisaki's furisode was inspired by a picture I found on flickr (remove the parentheses to open the link properly): (pinterest).com(/)pin/396527942163466504/


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